Christopher Street

New GH Intro!

Ooh! Ooh!

New faces in the intro--they added Courtney and Ric and Brenda. Got rid of Laura and Gia. And here's the real kicker--they added back the shot of Sonny and Brenda holding hands running on the beach in Puerto Rico! Those of us that are true Sonny and Brenda 'shippers may read too much into this, but...Yay! And--Ned's new hair. Very nice. No Lane Davies, though. I am hoping that that isn't an ominous sign. Oh--and the shot they used of Brenda--the headshot--was the one from before, from 4 years ago. They couldn't have taken a new picture? :)

Still, I love a new GH intro. :)

The Golden Goddesses

So, could the Golden Globe Noms have sucked any worse? Damn Foreign Press. What do they know, anyway? Do they even *watch* American TV?

Because I have come to terms with the fact that I am never going to get any satisfaction from the HFP--or the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, for that matter--I present therefore and herewith, the nominees for the First--possibly Annual--Golden Goddess Awards:

Best Comedy
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Gilmore Girls*
Monk
Scrubs
Sex and the City

Best Actor, Comedy
Frankie Muniz, Malcolm in the Middle
John C. McGinley, Scrubs
John Ritter, 8 Simple Rules*
Matthew Perry, Friends
Tony Shaloub, Monk

Best Actress, Comedy
Alexis Bledel, Gilmore Girls
Jennifer Aniston, Friends*
Lauren Graham, Gilmore Girls
Sarah Chalke, Scrubs
Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and the City

Best Supporting Actor, Comedy
David Hyde Pierce, Frasier
Ken Jenkins, Scrubs
Peter Boyle, Everybody Loves Raymond
Scott Patterson, Gilmore Girls*
Sean Hayes, Will and Grace

Best Supporting Actress, Comedy
Katey Sagal, 8 Simple Rules
Kelly Bishop, Gilmore Girls
Kim Catrall, Sex and the City
Megan Mullally, Will and Grace*
Wendie Malick, Just Shoot Me

Best Drama
24
Alias
Buffy the Vampire Slayer*
CSI
Six Feet Under

Best Actor, Drama
Gale Harold, Queer as Folk*
Kiefer Sutherland, 24
Michael Chiklis, The Shield
Peter Krause, Six Feet Under
Victor Garber, Alias

Best Actress, Drama
Allison Janney, The West Wing
Janelle Maloney, The West Wing
Marg Helgenberger, CSI
Rachel Griffiths, Six Feet Under
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the Vampire Slayer*

Best Supporting Actor, Drama
Alexis Denisof, Angel
Bradley Whitford, The West Wing
James Marsters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer*
Jeremy Sisto, Six Feet Under
Richard Schiff, The West Wing

Best Supporting Actress, Drama
Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer*
Evan Rachael Wood, Once and Again
Julia Whelan, Once and Again
Lauren Ambrose, Six Feet Under
Summer Glau, Firefly

* The winners, in the bizarro world of my head.

LotR: TTT

Well, I am not much of a movie critic--I tend to think of movies as falling into a fairly simple ternary system: They suck, they don't, they kick ass. No 1-5 stars, no 1-10...pretty much a movie is an A, a C, or an F. It is for this reason that I don't write reviews--I don't think granularly about things that I have emotional reactions to. Having said that...

Two Towers was an A. :) And that Aragorn? Mmmmm-Mmmmmm.

What I am critical of is the movie going experience. It is usually bad, and bad on so many levels. Movie theaters are crowded, and people are loud, and they talk on their cell phones and they bring children to movies that aren't for children, and the lines are long, and theater personnel are indifferent, and auto-ticketing machines work sporadically, at best, and sound systems are frequently calibrated to the 'bleeding eardrum' level and just forget all about parking and seats are too small and...well, that's a pretty good list.

My experience tonight, therefore, was remarkable. First, we went online this morning and easily got tickets for the second show we tried. When we got to the theater, we were able to easily find parking. The auto-ticket machine worked like a charm. The staff was friendly and attentive. The line was long, but we arrived about an hour and 15 minutes before showtime, and only waited in line about 40 minutes before they let us in. The seats were unusually comfy, too, and had the retractable armrest thing, which meant that I spent the movie snuggled against my husband instead of the armrest, always an improvement. The movie started close to on time--it was an 8:30 showing, and they started the trailers at 8:25. There were NINE trailers, though, so the movie actually started at about 8:35, which is close enough for me, really. The sound was great, the people respectful of others--no loud talkers or cell phones.

All in all, I don't know how it could have been better. Well, I guess the sodas could have been cheaper. :) But overall, I mean, especially when you factor in the whole yummy Aragorn thing...it was a fine night.

From my buddy Dale:

From my buddy Dale:

I have been not of

I have been not of the Christmas spirit, not one with the season, as it were. I haven't done any shopping, I didn't put up lights or a tree, I didn't write a holiday letter, I didn't send Christmas cards. It's not like I have been all Grinchy--I don't begrudge others their holiday cheer. I just didn't have any of my own.

I had blamed it on the fact that I am unemployed. Part of the downside to being laid off is the lack of incoming funds. I mean, sure, I was glad to get away from the soul-sucking horror that was Digex. I did my happy dance along with many others on the way out the door. When my severance check came, I couldn't believe that someone was actually paying me to leave the firey bowels of hell. But then came the no money and the commensurate lack of cheer.

Or so I thought. But I think I was wrong. Because, see, I am still unemployed...and suddenly just all full of Christmas cheer. I made a couple holiday icons for here and for tivocommunity. I bought my first Christmas present. I made a list and a plan to complete the rest--at nominal cost because, you know, still poor. But that's OK because they will be thoughtful gifts and no one will care that I didn't spend a lot of money. Once that's done, I might--might--put up a decoration or two. :)

A Buffyfest Weekend--and some Buffy thoughts

So, my friend Serena came to visit this weekend, with the intent of watching Buffy. A lot of Buffy. See, she's been dating someone who's a fan for a year or so, and then there's her exposure to me, any my husband, and many of her other friends, and she's starting to feel left out. So, she asked me to catch her up, quick.

So, between 6 pm Thursday and 4 am Saturday--I think that's 34 hours--we watched: Welcome to the Hellmouth, The Harvest, Angel, Prophecy Girl, School Hard, What's My Line I and II, Surprise, Innocence, Passion, Becoming I and II, The Wish, Doppelgangland, Hush, The Body, The Gift, The Witch, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, Halloween, Band Candy, and Something Blue.

When I woke up on Saturday afternoon, I told my husband that I thought I had reached max Buffy density, a state that I didn't think was possible. I guess 22 episodes in 34 hours is my practical limit. :)

It seems to wear off fast, though--I watched Restless and Amends tonight.

On a related note, I have been giving some thought to why the First is after Spike. I mean, sure, Spike isn't really mentally strong right now, so maybe he was just the easiest target. And maybe the Scooby Gang is physically weaker without him, since Spike is the best fighter, after Buffy. And maybe, since Buffy obviously has lingering and very complicated feelings for Spike, hurting him might conceivably cause her to be distracted if he were in trouble, and she might mourn him if he were dead. But, I think that it might be more than that.

There are prophecies, see, lots of them. And some of them involve the Vampire with a Soul. We have always assumed that to be Angel. But now, there's another one. So, which one of them is the big deal at the end? Which is the one that gets shanshued and gets to live happily ever after? Which one of them saves the world? If it's Spike, then the First has a real interest in getting him out of the action, an interest that goes beyond just messing with Buffy.